I Shall Become the Arbiter (2)
After sending Lumein away, the young lady and I were unpacking the supplies we’d bought in my dormitory room. As we worked, I recalled the conversation I’d had with that elf woman at the teahouse and spoke up.
“Replacing the chairman, huh? Since you said it, I know it’s not just empty talk, but it’s still pretty bold.”
“Is there any reason it shouldn’t be done? In any case, the current chairman, Montgomery, was involved in the bloody purge orchestrated by Sabrina and her son Vancite. He’s one of their lackeys.”
Even as I gave that answer, I couldn’t understand why my teeth were grinding together. Killing Vancite was only the beginning of the salvation and freedom I needed to show her. Perhaps it was because I could feel all too clearly how long the road ahead still was.
“So this isn’t even something that requires a grand decision. It’s simply the natural course of things. After all, when Vancite tried to lay a hand on my Karalin, I swore I would kill every single bastard who aided him… There are no exceptions.”
At that, the young lady glanced back at me.
“…W-what? Did you just say ‘my Karalin’—?”
Oops. A slip of the tongue.
“I’m not sure. Maybe you misheard.”
“R-really…?”
But just as the young lady had pointed out, this plan didn’t make sense by any ordinary standard. Sure, we talked about replacing the chairman, but weren’t there mountains of practical problems we had to overcome when we had no connections in the capital?
Well, given the current chaos, dragging the chairman down by force wasn’t impossible, but… if we did that, any chairman we installed to suit our tastes would lack procedural legitimacy. There would be no guarantee that the same thing wouldn’t happen again.
Moreover, it wasn’t even easy to find someone among our acquaintances who could replace him as chairman of the imperial foundation. What we needed was someone connected to us, someone with enough charisma to bend the academy to our will, and… in the long term, an ally who could help realize Cryan’s ultimate goal of ascending as Crown Prince.
The person who immediately came to mind was probably Babalk, but that man was surprisingly sly. Even though he openly showed his desire to do something with me, he never approached easily. Besides, what that old man truly cared about was nothing but the extermination of the demon army, so I doubted he would cling to some trivial position. Even if the chairmanship of Sigmund wasn’t exactly a trivial seat, that was simply the kind of person he was.
So the young lady simply washed and chopped vegetables while asking me,
“Since the topic came up, let me ask—have you already thought of someone to put in Montgomery’s place?”
“…Someone suitable for that position.”
“Yes. At the very least, to be chairman, they need close ties to the imperial family or immense financial power. On top of that, they must have the standing to contribute to the political stability of the capital…”
She was right. Exactly as she had summarized. The three qualities we needed.
“If we can’t find such a person, anything we say in this tiny room will just be empty theory. As far as I know, there isn’t anyone like that around us.”
Of course, that was a perfectly natural question to have. But.
Did she really think I would bring up all these thoughts for no reason? She knows I hate that kind of thing.
“However, young lady, what would you do if I told you there is someone who miraculously fulfills all three conditions?”
“…What?”
Standing beside her as she chopped vegetables, I continued stuffing things into the magic refrigerator and said,
“He was personally chosen by the Emperor and appointed as Captain of the Royal Guard, so his close relationship with the imperial family passes with flying colors.”
“Captain of the Royal Guard? Hmm, who could you be talking about…”
“Moreover, his financial power encompasses an entire city. Even though his current influence has been greatly reduced, he is clearly someone who could become the solid backing for the soon-to-be-established next Crown Prince…”
With a soft click, I finished organizing everything and closed the refrigerator door. Then I gently stroked the young lady’s cheek.
“Of course, right now he’s living a life that’s little more than that of a thug. But that can be smoothed over somehow. Looking at it that way, doesn’t it seem like there’s someone perfectly suited for the role?”
At that, the young lady suddenly seemed to think of someone. The existence she had only heard about from me after my visit to the Bruised City. A reliable figure who could become the solid support for Cryan, who would soon ascend as Crown Prince.
“…Nonedon Naigerse!”
That’s right. I nodded.
“I went through all that trouble to save him, yet he insisted on returning to the Bruised City because he had to take responsibility for everything he’d done. I felt it was such a shame…”
Now that the thoughts had connected, the young lady’s face brightened. Still wearing her apron, she trotted over to stand in front of me.
“After hearing the rumor that Vancite had died, he apparently lingered near the academy and helped us in various ways. In a sense, it makes sense. The greatest enemy of his life had disappeared at someone else’s hand.”
Looking at her face, I smiled.
“It seems he’s gradually developing the desire to come up to the surface. Wouldn’t it be nice to create a proper seat for him?”
“To think you came up with such an idea. Splendid! As expected of my one and only servant…!”
Then she rose onto her tiptoes in front of me, bringing her face close—
“U-um… maybe later.”
She said that and stepped back.
Just now… what was she trying to do?
“Ah, um…?”
“I-it’s nothing! Forget it. Let’s just eat dinner… It’s meat stew today.”
“…Yes, young lady.”
After that, we headed outside to go to the clubroom. Having learned our lesson from having our faces exposed last time, we wrapped ourselves up as thoroughly as possible.
It felt a bit excessive to have to go this far just to step outside, but for the time being, it seemed this was our fate.
Yet as we walked, we noticed something. On the side path leading from the central plaza to the Sun Observatory, a woman with green hair was crying and pasting posters everywhere.
Seeing such a sorrowful sight in broad daylight, I wondered if some lady had lost her pet dog…
“Yohan, isn’t that Gremory…?”
“Oh. It does look like her.”
Upon closer inspection, the person who looked like some refined lady turned out to be the successor of the Four Towers.
“Karalin, S-Steel Knight…! It’s been so long—!”
When she sensed our presence approaching, Gremory turned toward us with tears still glistening in her eyes. Yet in an instant she wiped all trace of that expression away and greeted us with her usual languid tone, as if nothing had happened.
I had to admire her composure.
“Hero of Sigmund, Lord Steel Knight, have you recovered well…? It feels like only yesterday that I was shuddering at the news that your corpse had been found, only to learn you were actually alive. Just what happened—?”
“Ah, well… My body is fine. The details will probably be announced gradually, but I can tell you in advance that it was something of a historical turning point.”
“I see…”
Then her gaze shifted to the young lady.
“Karalin!”
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“You have no idea how worried I was about you, Karalin. I saw you get hit by that monstrous club-wielding giant right before my eyes. I thought something terrible was going to happen… Really, making everyone suffer like that—”
At that, Karalin smiled happily.
From what the young lady had told me, after the funeral rite for my corpse, when she was slowly beginning to calm down, Gremory had often come to visit her, listening to her grievances and talking with her. Along with Eclipse, Gremory could be called one of Karalin’s friends. The young lady, who seemed genuinely glad to see her, responded warmly.
“You don’t need to worry about me. Everything difficult was endured by Yohan. By the way, what are you doing right now…?”
The question the young lady asked was about what Gremory was doing. The moment the question fell, Gremory clutched the stack of missing-person flyers tightly to her chest and once again teared up.
“It’s because Cryan has been missing for several days—!!”
“…Ah.”
Oh. So that’s what it was.
Looking closely, what she had lost wasn’t a dog. The face plastered on the poster like a mugshot belonged to—
—Cryan.
Good heavens.
She struggled to swallow her sobs as she appealed to us.
“Cryan, who had been very ill, was quietly staying in the intensive care unit. Since it was that kind of place, the mages from the tower were busy with follow-up practical training, so I couldn’t pay proper attention.”
“But you’re saying he was kidnapped…?”
She nodded her head vigorously up and down.
“Yes! After some sinister group approached, he was nowhere to be seen. This is terrible, just terrible. Someone has taken him! Those wicked—!”
Anyway, Gremory stopped there and swallowed her voice, but the rest of what she would say was easy to guess. In a capital that had been locked down, most of the thoughts a powerful figure like her could have would naturally align with our own conclusion. She must think that while she wasn’t paying attention, he had been taken by someone’s hand.
“Ah, no, that’s not— Anyway. If any of you see that child, please contact me. This unprecedented situation is far more serious to me than the disaster during the forest training—.”
How on earth were we supposed to tell Gremory that the culprit was us?
The young lady and I exchanged awkward glances. It was truly pitiful to see her so shaken, just like I had been when the young lady had disappeared. In my heart, I wanted to tell her the whole story, but… for now, that was the situation Cryan had prevented. I couldn’t really say anything to her.
What he had left us with was this:
‘Yohan. If you happen to meet Lady Gremory outside, please keep it a secret that I’m at this observatory.’
‘…Why? Don’t do anything stupid, Cryan. I’m saying this because I’ve seen it once before—it really hurts people, you know?’
‘It’s not that kind of problem. Since I cut off my brother’s head, chaos will continue in Sigmund for a while. I have no desire to use the tower in the midst of that chaos.’
The way he had spoken to me with eyes sunk in melancholy had somehow made him look like a critically ill patient watching the last leaf fall. Why was that?
‘But the people of the tower haven’t done anything wrong… This is a burden I must bear alone.’
‘…I don’t understand.’
After hearing that, I honestly wondered if it was really necessary. Think about it. At this moment, where could Cryan find a better power base than the tower?
‘Even if you cut off his head, you currently have no foundation. Isn’t the tower a force that can help you take power? If there’s help to be had, you should take it without hesitation. Are you already thinking about managing your retainers after the coronation?’
‘N-no. It’s true that since my situation is desperate, I can’t afford to be picky.’
‘Then don’t waste the years you’ve spent at the tower. Remember why you stayed by their side.’
‘I know that, but… Ugh. The truth is, I don’t have the face to see Lady Gremory…!’
‘…Excuse me?’
‘She ran away from home to help you! Honestly, how am I supposed to explain that we caused all this chaos? Our relationship might be ruined…!’
‘…Are you a girl?’
‘Shut up! Just help me this once, okay? It won’t take long to sort things out.’
That’s what he had said, so I told him I understood. But knowing Gremory’s true nature, I still couldn’t understand why he wanted to hide his refuge from her.
‘All because he’s scared of the cleanup. He’s refusing the help of the woman right in front of him.’
To those inside the academy, Gremory gave the impression of nothing more than a good-natured, cheerful woman. But at her core, she was the very incarnation of ambition. That was the absolute premise written in the first line of her character profile.
So if we told someone like her an incredible plan to make Cryan the Crown Prince? She would immediately put her mind to work, realizing that the imperial family had driven him out and that they could raise the one they had nurtured into the Crown Prince. She would undoubtedly offer the tower’s full support.
Given our situation—where everything except the plan itself was below standard—I still couldn’t understand why he would refuse such help. After all, it was her master’s family, and their interests didn’t overlap. There was no reason for the imperial house to cut ties with them. And if the tower ever did something that became an eyesore and they needed to manage their retainers, they could think about it then.
So I simply said,
“Lady Gremory. I know where Cryan is.”
“W-what did you say—?!”
“Do you have time?”
“If it’s about that, I have time 24/7—?!”
If I brought her before Cryan, that guy would no doubt shout at me in that dry voice of his, calling me a traitor.
But so what?
If he thought he had become a man, only to feel relieved after cutting off Vancite’s head and then make such a weak, indecisive choice, then didn’t I have to show him a taste of something spicy?